Indonesia Travel

A market town and meeting point for the hill people of western Flores, Ruteng is the heart of Manggarai country, which extends to the west coast from north of Aimere. The town is surrounded by rice fields on gentle slopes beneath a line of volcanic hills.

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After the bottle-green hills of the Puncak Pass, the sprawling bulk of Bandung hits you like a baseball bat across the back of the head. Once the ‘Paris of Java’, the city is now a twisting throng of congested streets and endless suburbs, and any romantic notions of colonial glamour have long disappeared. This is Indonesia’s fourth-largest city and West Java’s capital, and it likes everyone to know it.

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If you dreamt of an Indonesia with blissful beaches, plentiful coral and a place to live the life of a lotus eater, the Togean Islands fit the bill. This archipelago of beautiful coral and volcanic isles in the middle of Teluk Tomini is a riot of blue, gold and green. The undisturbed jungle shelters a variety of wildlife. The islands’ reefs support a rich diversity of marine life, and the people of the seven or so ethnic groups sharing this place are hospitable. Although the islands are difficult to reach, and the facilities are basic, many travellers fall in love with the Togeans and their lifestyle – and often end up staying a lot longer than they anticipated. However, like many parts of Indonesia, the coral has suffered at the hands of local fisherfolk over the past decade.

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Rantepao is the most popular base for exploring the stunning countryside around Tana Toraja. It is in striking distance of most of the major sites and has a good range of accommodation and restaurants. It is the largest town and commercial centre of Tana Toraja and a far better option than the provincial capital of Makale. Rantepao has cool evenings and rain throughout the year – even in the dry season.

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Perched on the hills overlooking Teluk Lampung, Bandarlampung is the region’s largest city and its administrative capital. The fourth-largest city in Sumatra, it is the product of an amalgamation of the old towns of Telukbetung (coastal) and Tanjungkarang (inland).

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The tiny village of Tirta Gangga (Water of the Ganges), high on a ridge with sublime views of rice paddies sprawling over the hills down to the sea, is a relaxing place to stop. The main attraction is the old water palace and guided treks through the gorgeous landscape. Facilities are limited.

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You are in for a real treat at Pulau Weh. The island’s fingers grasp at the mighty Indian Ocean, forming vistas of alternating land and sea. Like the terrestrial landscape, the underwater geography is rugged and varied, creating the scuba version of hiking. Divers describe great walls of languid sea fans, deep canyons and rock pinnacles, plus a lot of big fish.

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The provincial capital of Banda Aceh is not frequently paired in the international press with good times. The city was close enough to the sea and the epicentre of the earthquake to have suffered a double punch from the 2004 Boxing Day disaster. The earthquake toppled most of the buildings taller than three storeys and the tsunami gobbled up coastal development across middle-class suburbs. In Banda Aceh alone, 61, 000 people were killed and development outside of the city centre was reduced to a wasteland in a matter of a few hours. This scale of destruction usually takes humans years of warfare to match.

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Although it’s conveniently close to the Sabah border and a stepping stone to other places, Tarakan offers little of cultural interest. It was the site of bloody fighting between Australians and Japanese at the end of WWII.

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A string of perfect volcanic cone islands lurk off the western coast of crazy-K shaped Pulau Halmahera. Of these, Pulau Ternate and its neighbour Pulau Tidore are the most populous, visually dramatic and historically significant. Both islands are ancient Islamic sultanates with a long history of bitter rivalry. As the world’s only major producers of a globally important product (cloves), their sultans became the most powerful rulers in the medieval Indies, wasting much of their wealth fighting each other. At certain times both sultans could claim nominal influence that spread as far afield as Ambon, Sulawesi and Papua.

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